Quoted By:
>Surrender.
You decide to surrender and drop your weapons to the ground.
Namara, Jones, Paula, and Audrey follow suit, and even the three Dark Selunites as well. They don’t answer to you, but they probably recognize it is a bad situation.
Some Helmhaus troops come forward and collect your dropped weapons.
Now that things have calmed down slightly, you take closer stock of the enemy.
About half a dozen Helmhaus troops, even more elaborately dressed than the ones you encountered before. You have a strong feeling the leader is Malleia herself, or at least a close kinswoman. Her armor and hammer are exquisitely well crafted, and her face and body are perfect, likely due to subtle gene manipulation. The combat servitor is clearly theirs as well.
There are also eight HYDRA IX agents present. You recognize most of them. Hiroka. You would have been happy not to see her again. You are pretty sure the colonel and the two Alpha Legionnaires were present when you first met Kayla, back when she ran with HYDRA IX. There is also the red haired woman you think is a null. Rounding out the party is a twitchy psyker, a swordswoman, and a female squat with a meltagun. They are thinly disguised as an Inquisitional warband, but all wear enough blue and green to make their allegiances obvious, to you anyways.
The Tau are probably the least impressive in the group. Five Fire Warriors and a Water Caste. No doubt the Commander and the Ethereal are elsewhere.
Hiroka seems quite pleased to see you, unfortunately.
“Oh good, just as planned. We have located the ring, and the clone of a rival. Come with us. Your companions will remain here. And if you don’t cooperate, they will be shot. If you help us though, you will be offered a spot in an organization that uses the Warp for the Good of Mankind, not Self-Fulfilling Degeneracy.” - Says Hiroka.
You doubt you will ever willingly join the group that corrupted or killed many of your friends back during your brief Guard career, but grudgingly, you accompany Hiroka out of the room, and through a series of side tunnels.
She brings half of the HYDRA IX group, except the colonel, the null, and the two Legionnaires, who remain behind with some Fire Warriors and Helmhaus troops to guard your companions. Malleia and the Water Caste also follow Hiroka’s group, along with two guards each. Annoyingly, Jones is also ordered to come along, and she quickly begins sucking up to her new masters, providing all sorts of insights about the ruins.
You arrive in a large circular crypt-room with dozens of mummified corpses laid out on slabs all around the central focus point of the room, which is a massive brazier with bluish glowing soul flames.
“The ring is in the middle of the flames, bring them to me.” - States Hiroka.
Suddenly Evil Rhea’s war party bursts into the room.
“Bring the ring to me, a deal is a deal.” - Says Evil Rhea.
